Hawkshead · 2 checked & stamped
Boots on. These are the Hawkshead walks worth the drive, with lead rules and livestock warnings marked.
The high point of Grizedale Forest at 314m, and the one summit in the central Lakes you can reach entirely on forest track and waymarked path with no sheep on it. From the visitor centre the route climbs west on the Silurian Way, then turns up a stony path through the plantation to a bare rock top with the Coniston fells laid out west and Windermere east. Forestry England's own dog code asks only that dogs stay close and in sight and that you use a lead if the dog does not always come back. The return drops north-east through the sculpture trail ground back to the centre.
Four and a half miles and a little over two hours, 220 metres of climb: out of Hawkshead by field paths and forest track to the stone obelisk on Latterbarrow, which gives a better view of the Langdale Pikes than anything twice its height. It starts at the main Hawkshead car park at the edge of the village, paid, about 200 spaces and the one Lakeland car park that is genuinely large enough for a busy Saturday. The forest section is enclosed and good for off the lead, the summit is open access ground grazed by sheep so leads there, and there is no water on the hill - the becks on the Hawkshead side are the last chance for a drink.
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